"𝔖𝔥𝔲𝔡𝔡𝔥 𝔧𝔞𝔩. 𝔍𝔞𝔞𝔡𝔲𝔢𝔢 𝔭𝔞𝔞𝔫𝔢𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔞𝔯 𝔨𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔧𝔦𝔫𝔞𝔫," I recited, "Adik jadoo."

"The 'a' sound is supposed to be longer in the last sentence." DubbAlina advised. "And you need to put more of your throat in it."

"𝔖𝔥𝔲𝔡𝔡𝔥 𝔧𝔞𝔩, 𝔞𝔡𝔥𝔦𝔨 jaado, 𝔞𝔡𝔥𝔦𝔨 𝔧𝔞𝔞𝔡𝔬𝔬." I said at last, my face slightly red from the effort. DubbAlina clapped next to my ear. I took out both of my hands from the bucket of water that was half-filled with water. The water was glimmering like thousands of fish scales, as if the sunlight was directly shining on it. It worked, I thought. I sat on the floor, then let out a sigh.

Now all that was left was to take the water to Grandpa and I was done with the chores for today. I lugged the bucket of water over to the Crafts Room, then heard a ring. Someone had come to the shop.

My duties as an apprentice were simple. I filled and emptied the bucket, and I also watered the garden when it was too dry. There wasn't much for me to do on those fronts. Cahil, as Grandpa's first senior apprentice, took care of most of the 'alchemie' grunt work. Stuff like taking care of the items, which I wasn't allowed anywhere near. The garden was mostly taken care of by the two women in the house. If I was required, it was for physical grunt work like fixing the fence, and creating magic water for the garden. DubbAlina was a big help on both jobs, by the way.

My real duty in the house, I soon discovered, had little to do with either alchemie or gardening: I was in charge of selling the items in the shop.

DubbAlina reassured me and told me this was normal, that Ahmad was in charge of this since we had moved to the city. It was one of my regular duties so I better not mess it up. It didn't make sense, I thought. DubbAlina also told me the previous Ahmad was quiet and very antisocial. I couldn't imagine someone like that being in charge of a store. Grandpa and Cahil were too busy making items, I think. Grandpa only came out when there was an important customer. But I could think of other candidates for the job. For example, Sahar. Sahar was excellent at bargaining. She would be a much better salesman than me. 

I tidied up the store. There weren't any expensive things sold in the first part of the store. The jewelry and fancy weapons and magic products were all in the Crafts Room deeper in. Out, there were mostly non-magic products. The few magic products that were sold were cheap and not made of very valuable material.

Done. I set my broom to the side, proud of the results of my hard work. Which DubbAlina didn't seem to appreciate.

"Urghh." DubbAlina moaned. "When is this going to end? It's been over a week since you last leveled up. A week."

I ignored her as she kept complaining. I went over to the entrance to turn on the lights to the shop and opened the door.

"You are such a weakling," DubbAlina continued, "And it just happens to be me who's stuck with the pathetic human. Other systems have it good, they brag that their hosts are geniuses and how they level up to level twenty in two days. Some hosts level up so fast that the systems have to persuade them to get some rest, but no, no genius host for me."

I hummed in agreement.

"Get out of this store!" DubbAlina hissed. "What are you dilly-dallying here for? It won't give you any normal skills, let alone special skills. No EXP, no levels. Can't you at least try to level up?"

"I leveled up once." I shrugged apathetically. "I don't see why I need more levels."

DubbAlina cursed. Thanks to her, I was gradually learning the different kinds of curse words that existed in the world. She didn't stop at words like 'bloody hell' and 'you fucking dolt'. DubbAlina gradually descended into more confusing and obscure sentences until she finally stopped, huffing, still mad but realizing she was helpless to do much about it.

I didn't care. She could say whatever she liked, I couldn't understand her anyway.

"You only leveled up once," DubbAlina said. She seemed to have given up on cursing for now, seeing how it was so ineffective. "Maybe you can't feel the effects now, but if you level up to maybe level 15, you'll definitely feel the difference. If your level goes up to the twenties, it'll be even more different. Go even higher, and you can defeat anyone, kill anything, maybe even make a harem if that's your thing. You can rise to the Heavens."

"And how long is that going to take?" I asked skeptically.

DubbAlina's tone brightened. "If you work hard, it'll barely take a couple of days to level up to level 15."

"No, not that." I said. "The sentences you said after that. Rising to the heavens and stuff. And will the benefits extend to my real life on Earth?"

DubbAlina didn't answer, which I decided was an answer in itself.

I considered DubbAlina's offer. An offer to abandon my current workplace that gave me three meals a day, people to partially rely on and magic spell lessons, all in order to obtain benefits that weren't very clear and not guaranteed. There wasn't even an arranged payday. I decided DubbAlina was being an idiot. "Yeah, no."

DubbAlina didn't wilt. She spat out a couple more curse words.

I just kept ignoring her.

"Ahmad?" I heard a voice. It wasn't DubbAlina's. I turned around to see Grandpa entering the shop.

"Grandpa?" I voiced. DubbAlina shut her mouth, which was a good thing, because if she kept yapping I wouldn't be able to talk to Grandpa. She was a loud system.

"Cahil will handle the shop today." Grandpa said in his warm voice. It could be my imagination. Today, Grandpa sounded strained, somewhat wary. But I looked into Grandpa's eyes. They were warm and shining, like usual, so I decided to ignore the bad feeling in my stomach. It could be that I ate something wrong today. Ahmad's stomach was sensitive.

We went into the Crafts Room. Perhaps that was why Grandpa's voice was strained. He probably didn't feel good about letting me into the Crafts Room, and for such a long time, too. I sighed.

"Enchantments." Grandpa gently touched an item on the table. "You should never handle one without precaution. Do you know what the most important ability in artifact crafting is?"

I shook my head. I didn't know that.

"It's analytical ability." Grandpa said. "The most important ability for any craftsman is the ability to recognize what they have built. To recognize what others have built. If you don't know, you can't make."

"What do you think this is?" Grandpa picked up a broom leaning against the wall. I looked at it curiously. It was a tattered old broom, one of those old-style ones with tree branches. It looked unremarkable in every way. It looked off-putting when placed together with the fancy jewelry and mechanics. It looked, I thought, like junk.

"It's a broom." I answered.

Grandpa tapped the broom several times, then let go of it. I expected it to fall to the ground and stir up dust. Instead, the broom started to levitate two feet off the floor. Grandpa moved his hand around in a wide circle. The broom followed. It was magic. In the end, the broom twirled a couple of times before Grandpa tapped it again, and it fell to the ground with a clattering sound, as if it was made of metal. My eyes widened.

"One of the most valuable items we have." Grandpa said vaguely. "A real witch broomstick. It can fly quicker than an eagle, and in the wrong hands it can become a deadly weapon."

Grandpa put the broom in my hands. It was heavy, I thought. The branches on the broom were simple enough. I stroked it. The branches weren't even clean, as if it had been used to clean the room several times. In the wrong hands, it can become a deadly weapon. And since Grandpa said it was a witch's weapon, 'the wrong hands' must refer to a witch. There were witches in this world. I imagined a witch back on Earth- warty old women with pointy hats, broomsticks and evil cackles.

Grandpa placed the broom back on the wall. And then we walked into the laboratory.

It was a very peculiar room. It looked like a science lab, and that was what I decided to call it, but since Grandpa didn't research science, he researched magic, I decided to call it the magic lab. Grandpa gestured to me to sit down on a stool, his eyes twinkling.

"Hands."

I laid them out.

"𝔡𝔥𝔬𝔬𝔩 𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔞𝔬, 𝔰𝔨𝔧𝔦𝔫𝔫𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔦𝔥, 𝔭𝔦𝔨𝔦𝔯𝔞𝔫 𝔤𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔱." Grandpa said briskly. A tingly feeling traveled through my body. I watched as my hands faintly started to glow for a few seconds. Then the glow dissipated. I blinked. My shoulders unknowingly relaxed.

"Good." Grandpa smiled. "Ahmad, my grandchild, now it is time for me to pass a skill to you. It is the first skill of the craftsman, in fact, many argue it is the most important skill for craftsmen. This skill will allow you to analyze items."

The screen was green. I really wondered what was up with that. Sometimes the system was green, sometimes blue. I mimed tapping 'Accept'. Grandpa watched me with pleased eyes. Another floating hologram popped up, red this time.

I tapped the 'Continue' option, and all the options faded into nothing.

Now I have two skills. I opened my mouth to tell Grandpa the good news, but it turned out I didn't need to. He was already smiling. Somehow his smile didn't feel as gentle as before, though it could be just my imagination.

Grandpa spread his arms. "Today, Ahmad, your first job is to analyze everything in the shop."

But he didn't need to tell me that. My eyes brightened at the thought of an ability I could activate on my own accord. I didn't pick anything up. I pointed at an object. And I ordered the skill to work.

testtube10

Sooorry I won't make any false promises anymore. T^T Had my phones confiscated. No internet access. It's summer break, but I'm stuck in a study room 24/7. Also, I signed up for English Literature courses at my high school. Gonna have to wait a year until it starts. I hope it'll help with my horrible grammar.